No, Red, I don’t. I will grant you he may have grown the business, which is what he is all about, but along the way he has perverted the game. His fixation with marketing the game in the deep south has been misguided and at times absurd. In pursuing this strategy he has made it clear that the Canadian franchises are an after-thought. He treats them as cash cows for the league until he successfully markets the game in the deep south where he thinks the truly lucrative markets are. If that means changing the game into a version of rollerblade or UFC on ice, so be it. Bettman may be good for the NHL business but he is the great Satan when it comes to preserving the game. It’s why he gets deafeningly booed trying to give out the Stanley Cup. The sooner the NBA decides to bring him back to fix their games, the better!

And it would be nice if he would take Shanny and Campbell with him when he goes.

Why didn’t the Habs keep Sanford for less money to back up Carey instead of signing Budja for more money? I just don’t understand some of the decisions this organization makes, why can other people see potential in our players that we can not see.

Because Gauthier doesn’t think logically. Nothing he has done recently has made any sense. Not resigning Wisniewski, not resigning Moore, releasing Metropolit and keeping Darche. How are any of those actions logical? I’ve been a Habs fan for 45 years, I can’t remember being this frustrated with the management and ownership of this team. Who would’ve ever thought we’d miss George Gillette?

The good news today is that Graham James pled guilty to sexual assault. The bad news is this is his second conviction for this crime — and no doubt dozens of his victims have yet to come forward. The dreadful news is the National Parole Board granted this slime a pardon three years ago. Way to go Theoren Fleury for summoning the courage to hold this monster to account!

I heard on TSN 990 that Martin has officially put Weber in the doghouse. The problem is, if you are hping to make a trade someday, you can’t keeping showing your assets as losses. Makes no sense but that’s how JM has always operated. Wake up Geoff! i keep hoping that the team goes on a prolonged losing streak- maybe 10 games. Then hopefully some fans will stop going to the games. Then maybe the Molsons will notice that the team is a mess and needs a major overhall.

The year is a loss. With Geoff Molson refusing to do the right thing and remove Gomez, we are stuck with another mediocre half end to our year. Which is sad to see. A team is a team. Players take one for the team. Not Gomez. Not Molson. They only care if the concerts are full, never mind hockey.

To me the Habs issues of consistency seem somewhat simple. It is easy to psych yourself up and be ready to compete when the other team is a top team and you know you have to bring your best against them. It is a lot harder to motivate yourself to bring that same intensity when you are playing a lesser opponent. That is why teams have coaches and leaders, they are there to make sure everyone is ready to go the minute the puck drops no matter who you’re lining up against.
JM stresses a system that excites no one and his frenglish couldn’t possibly deliver a speech that would stir an iota of emotion from any of his players. He simply cannot get his team to show up every day. Have they quit on him? No, but we should expect more from a coach than simply “his players haven’t quit on him yet” Do I blame him for all the Habs short comings? No. Bad luck and PG also have to take some of the responsibility but the inconsistent performance that has plagued the Habs is JM’s responsibility and he should be held accountable for that, if nothing else.

When I go to work I don’t have my boss giving me “motivational” speeches every day. I do the work, so I get paid. I only have thousands of reasons to be at work and do my job well. These players have millions of reasons and STILL need someone to kick them in the ass? Are they just totally f—ed up or what?
These players have to look themselves in the mirror and not like what they see instead of giving the generation Y shrug.

I agree that I only have thousands of reasons to be at work and do my job well, and some days those still don’t seem to be enough. I also realize that at the end of the day I don’t necessarily bring my “A” game every day, I wish I did but it just doesn’t seem to happen.

But if your not doing your work it becomes your boss’ job to make sure it gets done, either by you, or by someone else. Also if in your office you don’t do your work then you get fired, but if your whole office doesn’t do their job, then it wont be each of you, it will be your boss who gets fired.

I’m not saying the players don’t need to step up and be individually accountable, what I’m saying is that there is a systemic problem with the Habs making light of lesser opponents and it falls to JM to make sure they are ready. Much like your boss has to make sure all of you have done your work, it is the coach’s job to make sure his players are ready day-in day-out.

I disagree. The coach’s job is to give the team a plan for the game. It’s up to the players to execute it. The player should be prepping himself to play. Do the players take it upon themselves to watch video of the team they’re coming up against or do they go into it with that blank stare?

Our thousands of reasons require us to do our jobs correctly, with pre-defined descriptions of what we must do, otherwise we may be relieved. Their millions of reasons guarantee them a job as long as they keep in shape during summer, show up on time for practice and games. It’s not written in their contract that they have to win games, although they get bonuses for performances. That’s why they need external “motivation” to do beyond their job descriptions.